


and the world may not know, still i see you celestial

by NotLostAnymore



Series: Ragehappy Advent Calender [11]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: 4B Verse, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Developing Relationship, Drabble, F/F, Fluff, Happy Ending, Sexual Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-11
Updated: 2015-12-11
Packaged: 2018-05-06 05:03:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5404052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotLostAnymore/pseuds/NotLostAnymore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Meg and Mariel first meet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	and the world may not know, still i see you celestial

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy a 4B verse fic! This takes place in between Chapter 19 and the Epilogue so SPOILERS I guess!

Mariel started working at the bar across the street from the Austin Heights apartment building in the middle of 2017. She had moved to Austin a few weeks earlier, finding a small hovel of an apartment several blocks away. She liked bartending, it was a fun challenge and introduced her to a lot of new people and honestly she was fine if that was all her life amounted to. Her sleep pattern was already totally fucked so what was the point in ever trying to fix it?

She knew she had lucked out getting a decent job as soon as she had but she didn't quite realize just how lucky she was until a few weeks later. She hadn't counted on having a regular rotation of customers coming over from Austin Heights on a nightly basis and not only being nice but tipping well. Within a few days she'd already learned a few names and the week after she'd been invited a party that Friday night up on the third floor of the building by some cute purple-haired girl. Mariel had found herself saying yes without even thinking about it simply because there was an attractive face in front of her and as a result had been forced to scramble to find somebody to cover her shift that night. She wasn't so sure why she was so determined to go to the party but she was sure as hell going to go now she'd put the effort of finding cover in.

 

Not really the type to get nervous, Mariel felt rather strangely out of place as she stepped into the building lobby that Friday. She was dressed fairly casually as an attempt to test the water and not look too over-dressed. She figured it was always better to look more chilled than embarrass herself with a full get-up. Sure, maybe she'd spent a little extra time on her hair in make-up just in case she saw the cute purple-haired girl again but she was choosing not to think about that. 

Just when she started to feel like a total idiot standing in the lobby of a building she didn't even live in, somebody just entering the building caught her eye. It was a guy, probably a few years older than her and yeah, he was cute. "You here for the party?" he asked in the deepest voice she had ever heard. If she wasn't totally invested in the lady loving then she'd probably feel a little flustered. Hell, maybe she still did.

"Uh yeah. I don't actually live here though so... awkward?" she blabbed, feeling her face heat up slightly. She didn't get embarrassed easily but she honestly didn't know what she was doing there other than chasing a pretty face that was probably straight and/or not interested. That would be just her luck.

"Hey, me neither. My boyfriend does though so I get dragged along a lot," he explained, leading her to the elevator. She raised her eyes ever so slightly at the 'boyfriend' comment, feeling genuinely surprised but also a little relieved. At least she didn't have to feel too bad about being flustered, knowing that he wouldn't be interested in her anyway. "I'm Tyler, by the way."

"Mariel. I work at the bar across the street," she replied, flashing him a grateful smile as he let her enter the elevator first. So very gentlemanly. Yeah, he definitely wasn't straight. "I got invited by a cute girl so thought why not." Oops, that was probably more than she had been intending to share. Unfortunately that just seemed to be one of her many terrible habits. She still hadn't forgiven herself for accidentally revealing that she'd gotten her period during a bathroom break during a date. That night hadn't exactly ended all that well and she certainly hadn't gotten an invitation for a second date.

For his part, Tyler didn't mock her or anything. "That sounds familiar," he chuckled. "I got roped in pretty much the same way. Good luck, kid. You'll need that with this bunch."

If Mariel hadn't already felt uncharacteristically nervous then his words really didn't help matters all that much.

 

The party was already in full swing when they arrived and were all but thrown into the throng of people spilling out of one apartment down the entire hallway. Everybody seemed comfortable and familiar with each other and while Mariel recognized some faces from their visits to the bar, she still didn't know any of them enough to approach. Suddenly this whole thing seemed like a terrible idea but being the stubborn independent young woman she was, she refused to back down and run away like a bitch.

"Hey! I know you!" a tall, beautiful blonde girl declared as she burst out of the crowd, pointing straight at Mariel. She certainly felt very on the spot but the girl seemed somewhat familiar so she just smiled and nodded. "Meg wants to see you! Come on!" Without giving Mariel much of a choice, the blonde grabbed her by the hand and started to drag her through the party. She saw what felt like hundreds of faces pass by, catching parts of strange conversations and smelling more than a little alcohol on everybody's breath. Working in a bar she was pretty used to that by now though. This was hardly the roughest house party (or apartment party, whatever) she'd ever been to anyway.

Finally she was all but deposited in front of a familiar pretty face with striking purple hair done up all nicely. The girl seemed rather alert, especially when compared to the rest of the people surrounding her, and Mariel didn't see any sort of drunken glaze over her eyes either. Her face relaxed into a smile and Mariel could swear she overheard a giggle when Barbara loudly told them to behave before skipping off.

"You actually came! I'm so happy!" purple hair said, the smile growing into a big grin. It was pretty damn adorable.

"Of course I came! I love a good party," Mariel fired back, unable to hide her own smile.

Purple hair leaned in a little closer and Mariel found herself mirroring the movement. She certainly wasn't complaining about getting in closer. "This is actually pretty tame so far. Trust me, things can get crazy here," she explained.

"From what I've seen over at the bar, I'm really not surprised," Mariel teased in response. Purple hair blushed ever so slightly as Mariel fondly recalled the girl downing an entire 'dirty pint' after a game of Ring of Fire turned dark. Mariel had watched the game with some interest as copious amounts of strong alcohol were mixed together for the final concoction that the mystery beauty had been forced to drink.

"Oh! I'm Meg, by the way," the girl said, her blush only deepening as she held out her hand.

Mariel didn't even miss a beat. "Meg? Cute name." She wasn't the most graceful flirt in the world but when she met a girl that was a) pretty and b) seemingly pretty nice then yeah, she'd put a bit of effort in. She wasn't letting herself live like a lesbian nun. No thanks. "I'm Mariel," she introduced herself, accepting the other's hand and beginning a relationship that lasted a lot longer than she had even hoped for.

 

Meg turned up at the bar during her next shift two days later.

"Hey! You weren't in last night?" she asked, sounding almost upset.

"Uh no, I get Saturdays off. Plus I was a little hungover, y'know."

"My bad," Meg replied, smiling guiltily. "But hey, you chugged more than Aaron  _and_ Tyler combined so feel proud about that!"

"Trust me, I do. What can I get you, princess?"

"Your number. A date. Take your pick."

Mariel paused, totally caught off guard. Then, before the pause lasted too long and Meg could get nervous, she relaxed into a smile.

"I'll be nice and give you both." 

After scribbling her number onto a napkin and organizing a coffee date for the next day, Mariel reluctantly went back to work.

 

"Do you have Christmas plans?" Meg asked over dinner one night. They had apparently skipped the 'romantic dinner' phase of dating and had gone straight to eating pot noodles while watching trashy 80's high school flicks. That was totally fine by Mariel.

"Nah. Can't afford to go see family so I'm gonna be diddlin' by myself all season," she mumbled through a mouthful of food. 

"Diddlin'?" Meg repeated, unable to stop herself from giggling. Mariel just shrugged.

"It keeps the blood flowing!" Meg's giggles only increased to the point a few noodles fell out and onto her lap. "Woah, spillage. Don't get too excited, babe."

After Meg had cleaned herself up and calmed down, she returned to the sofa. "You wanna spend Christmas here?" she offered casually. Mariel felt herself seize up for a moment. This was a big step, one that they should probably talk about for longer than just a brief conversation in passing but she already knew her answer.

"Yeah, sure. You don't mind me diddlin', right?"

"How about you leave the diddlin' to me, huh?"

"That sounds agreeable."

 

Eight months after they had started dating and two months after a relaxed Christmas together that had involved covering the whole of Meg's apartment in tacky decorations and singing old festive songs at the top of their lungs, the girls had their next long-overdue serious conversation.

"So, uh, do you want a key?" As always, Meg was the one to broach the topic and she did it in the most casual way while cooking them pancakes for breakfast. Mariel was staying over more often than not but she was still paying rent on the shitty little apartment she'd started renting when she'd first moved to Austin.

"The key for your heart? Already got that," Mariel fired back, not looking up from the crossword she was currently doing. She couldn't even believe how domesticated they had become without even realizing it. This just felt familiar and comfortable to her now. She didn't think about how much time she spent with the other because she genuinely loved every moment of it. She liked waking up to cooked breakfast and bickering over superhero television shows every afternoon and she enjoyed those nights when Meg would surprise her at week and lean across the bar to give her a quick kiss.

"A key for the apartment," Meg explained. "I mean, you basically live here already."

That was enough to get Mariel to look up. She frowned ever so slightly. "Are you asking me to move in?"

Meg didn't even stop to consider it. She turned around and delivered a pancake straight onto Mariel's plate with a knowing smile. "I guess I am, yeah."

Mariel, on the other hand, did need to think about. This wasn't like Christmas, this was a more permanent thing. It made her nervous, sure, but it also didn't terrify her like she'd expected. Besides, the idea of paying a bit less rent and never having to go back to that dump... yeah, it wasn't something she'd miss all that much.

"Then I guess I do want a key, yeah."

 

Mariel officially moved in three days later. Barbara threw a celebration party and somehow Mariel ended up being the only one sober enough to look after everyone. It was still one of the best nights of her life, if only because of the way Meg kissed her and then broke down into tears when she confessed just how happy she was in that very moment.

 

She joined the Austin Heights chatroom a week after that, just in time to witness the thrilling saga of Aaron's nudes leaking when Tyler mistakenly left his phone in Blaine's possession. Like the rest of her new neighbors, Mariel quickly became addicted to the damn thing.

 

"Man, I'm really glad you got that job at the bar," Meg said one night, safely wrapped up in her girlfriend's arms. Mariel ran her fingers through Meg's purple hair and found herself smiling without even having to think about it.

"Yeah, me too."


End file.
